While Kurushimi’s gaze was fixed on that of the giant canisfang before her, Atelier appeared to be more engrossed in the visage of the tree Rakshas eclipsed. It was faint and frail, and in the eyes of Kurushimi wasn’t anything spectacular to behold. The only intrigue she could muster about it was the sheer width; of which was easily enough to hold Rakshas in the middle of it, and with more than enough space to spare. Now that her attention was a little more focused towards it, Kurushimi was somewhat curious how a tree like this one would be reduced to such a drab state. She gave a slight glance towards Atelier, before asking her: “Is the tree something to be concerned about?”

“Hm–? Eh, no it’s just…” Atelier seemed startled for a moment, denying Kurushimi’s concerns for a moment before trailing her words. It really did seem that to Atelier the tree was something of much greater interest than the reveal of Rakshas. Seeing the sparkle of curiosity in Kurushimi’s eyes, Atelier couldn’t hold back, and so she chose to briefly explain a few details. “Hmm, where do I start… Like myself and Kurono, that tree is a god.”

“Eh, really-?!” Kurushimi exclaimed in the same hushed tone she had been keeping for a while. Meanwhile, Kurono’s unamused face didn’t show quite the same enthusiasm as Kurushimi. “You mean to tell me I’m the same as that dying tree over there…?”

Although their reactions were different, both responses were inherently the same; both full of ignorance and lack of understanding. Atelier couldn’t help but feel a sense of superiority being the only one actually well-versed in matters concerning this world. She wasn’t proud of it, but such a thing was a guilty pleasure of hers that came with age. “The conditions for being a god are actually very light. A god is anything that possesses divine energy. It’s faint now, but this one used to have more total divine energy than I did in my prime. Hah, I suppose we’re both shadows of our former selves… Now that I’m thinking about it, by that definition, Kurushimi could be called a god.”

Kurushimi lit up at the words contained in that final sentence. She didn’t understand exactly why she could be called a god, like in what way she possessed this ‘divine energy’ or what it even is, but she didn’t care too much about the details. The idea of being elevated to such a status boosted her ego to great heights -- only to be shut down a moment later.

“Well, only in technicality. There’s not a soul that would actually think you a god.” Atelier’s words were short and brutal. Kurushimi’s inflated ego was immediately shot down just like that. Whilst still in her depressed state, Atelier continued: “What you are right now is what we call an ‘incarnation’. A large majority of Gods simply can’t exist in the same realm as mortals and need an incarnation. Kurono is an example of such a god. I used to be able to sustain myself, but now I’m also reliant on you. You’d be quite famous in the outside world if word got out you were an incarnation for two gods.”

“Oh, is that rare?” Kurushimi asked.

“More than being rare, there are hardly any mortals capable of hosting more than one god at once. The weight of multiple gods on a single mortal is far too strenuous.” Atelier replied.

“...and Kurushimi can handle it?” Kurono gave Atelier a snide glance. Although she had anticipated such a thing, gods having strenuous weight was news to her.

“She can handle it just fine.” Atelier clasped her hands together, by now far too used to Kurono’s suspicions. “In fact, she can handle so much more! The amount she’s capable of being incarnate for is hard to get an exact measure for. She is very interesting indeed.”

“I wonder why that is…” Kurushimi pondered. Over their conversation, Rakshas had been diligently eating the living armour brought to him by his underlings. She still couldn’t understand his intentions, and grimaced at the sight and idea of eating them like that. She imagined it like eating an unpeeled shrimp. Only worse, as the carapace was of metal instead of chitin. Even worse, Rakshas wasn’t spitting out the armour either. He was just eating it.

After a few more moments of observation, she noticed a peculiar change on the surface of Rakshas’ skin. Strangle undulations rippling across his body; light at first, but gradually intensifying. Kurushimi rubbed her eyes to confirm what she was seeing. There was then a sudden physical change. Rough patches of skin hardened to become platings of what appeared to be metal just like that of the living armour's.

Before his whole body could be covered in it, he suddenly broke away from the armour and allowed it to fall off his skin, returning back to his previous form. He seemed dissatisfied with the result, quickly moving onto the next living armour presumably to do the same thing again. Kurushimi watched him with a bead of sweat trickling down her forehead. “Is that a skill?”

A quick appraisal confirmed that. Rakshas did indeed lose mana immediately after, and there was a decent amount of mana expunged at that; about 100 MP. It wasn’t too much of a problem for him considering how big his mana bar was, but if it was her own, the cost would’ve put a decent dent in her mana bar. Spamming that skill would become an issue over a longer period of time.

She had already taken a look at what information her current appraisal could give her; his health, mana, and stamina were the obvious ones. 5600 HP, 4150 MP, and 6080 SP were the numbers. Her own resource bars dwarfed his, but that was likely a difference in their races. It reminded her of the difference between a player and a boss in pretty much any video game. Thinking that way made it feel a little less unfair.

She could also see most of his skills, but she couldn’t read the descriptions. Her appraisal wasn’t a high enough level for that yet apparently. As it is now, she struggled to see which of his many skills would be responsible for the transformation; she could only make an educated guess. The thought of having Atelier appraise his skills for her did cross her mind. However, the issue with that was in how she replied to Kurushimi’s request for an appraisal. “That would be too easy.” Was what she said.

Atelier always had this aloof attitude. She helped a lot, so Kurushimi couldn’t really complain; and she generally seemed to have good intentions, but her thinking was nothing other than an enigma. What her goal was – does she even have something so grand, or was she merely teasing? Maybe it was due to a difference in culture and species? Kurushimi didn’t mind it in the end, to her it was just one of Atelier’s qualities. Such things make a person interesting.

“How long are you going to sit there and watch?” An odd voice drew their attention from idle talk. It was rough and gritty, unlike any one of them. And that was not mentioning the fact that the words spoken were not Japanese, like how Kurushimi and the gods usually conversed. If it wasn’t obvious enough already by now, the source of the voice was made clear when Rakshas stared them down.

“He knew we were here this whole time?” Kurushimi asked as her face started to pale.

“Do you take me for a fool?” Rakshas replied, his stare only growing colder. Kurushimi nearly jumped out of her skin for a response. She wasn’t expecting such a quick reply; more specifically, she wasn’t expecting a reply at all from anyone other than Atelier or Kurono! She was still speaking Japanese, can he understand? How? Did someone come here from Japan like herself and teach him…? Her conclusion was characteristically wrong.

“I also possess the language comprehension skill, it’s common among the higher-level monsters which dwell in this forest.” Rakshas elaborated after seeing her confused expression. The forest is home to a large variety of monsters, so it isn’t strange that the more intelligent ones would hold such a skill in order to converse with one another.

The explanation was lost on Kurushimi however, as she had immediately gone back to panicking about the fact that Rakshas had apparently discovered them a long time ago. She ran through a lot of emotions before she just ended up complaining about it. “Aahhh, How am I supposed to sneak around in this place! It’s like every enemy has a UAV at all times!”

“UAV…?” Kurono questioned.

“Yeah, I don’t know either this time.” Atelier, who could usually comprehend the Earth lingo, was just as confused as Kurono was. It probably isn’t important anyway, she thought.

“Wait, Atelier, didn’t you specialise in illusion magic?” Kurushimi asked.

“Mhm.” Atelier nodded.

“...and it could affect all senses, right?” Kurushimi continued asking questions.

“That is correct.” Atelier said.

“Then couldn’t we have used that all this time…?” Kurushimi asked her final question.

“That would’ve been too easy.” Atelier replied.

“It’s these times I really hate you.” Kurushimi finally voiced her malcontent. With that, she ended her conversation and drew her sword. Ever since stepping away from that tree, Rakshas’ visage had been slowly getting more contorted and his eyes were maddening. The time for talking had seemingly expired.

“This hunger compels me… I have yet to eat… one of your kind, vampire.” As his breathing grew more ragged, and his once noble demeanour turned to savagery, saliva leaked from his jaws. “Run, struggle, squirm… Make the chase fun–!!”

As he barrelled towards Kurushimi, Rakshas’ form suddenly warped as it had before and took on a new appearance; one of a scaly nature, making the surface of his skin reflect all the nearby light. Kurushimi fell back in anticipation of an attack only for Rakshas to suddenly disappear from sight. The scales that covered his body and the way he instantly blended in with the surroundings reminded her of another monster she had previously encountered.

“That’s the pullumskāl’s camouflage, I thought you couldn’t use stealth in this area!” Kurushimi shouted, her composure weakening. It confused her how Rakshas was able to use such a thing here, when she would be revealed instantly by the crystals if she tried the same, however, this confirmed one thing; this skill assimilates the likeness of whatever he eats, gaining some of their powers and skills!

Kurushimi hurriedly searched around for any signs which could tell her his location. Camouflage was an incredibly powerful skill, but she knew it wasn’t invincible. Sound, changes in the scenery such as broken twigs or footprints, and even slight fluctuations in the veil itself. There were many cues which aided her in locating a camouflaged target. Rakshas was also very big, so each of these signs were all the more obvious. She knew all these indicators, however… she wasn’t seeing any of them.

Unable to see any of the immediate warning signs, Kurushimi braced herself and prepared to use her final fail-safe against sneak attacks. A while back, Karshak had also opened with a similar move. He had attacked from out of nowhere and taken the first strike. It really did seem like they had many things in common after all. Kurushimi waited patiently, but not without her heart rate accelerating to an unprecedented state. She would turn this bad situation into an opportunity.